BOULDER — In regard to the makeup of his roster, Colorado’s Tad Boyle faces the challenges of coaching basically a different basketball team for the third year in a row. Remind you of anyone? “Yeah, I gave Coach Cal a call,” Boyle said.

That’s Kentucky’s John Calipari, of course, coach of the defending national champions. The two have remained friends since Calipari was a young assistant at Kansas (1982-85) when Boyle played guard for the Jayhawks.

Colorado, which opens its regular season Friday at home against Wofford before a sold-out crowd — the first season-opening sellout in school history — doesn’t pretend to have a flock of five-star bluechippers, as Calipari unveils each year to replace the group he sends to the NBA.

But Boyle did land a six-player freshman class that was ranked third among Pac-12 Conference recruiting hauls, behind UCLA and Arizona. Two Colorado newcomers, 6-foot-10 forward-center Josh Scott and 6-6 forward Xavier Johnson, were named to national top-75 lists.

Scott, Colorado’s 2011-12 “Mr. Basketball” from Lewis-Palmer High School in Monument, is already penciled into the starting lineup.

Johnson, from Los Angeles-area power Mater Dei, is an exceptional leaper and could be the first player off the bench.

After speaking with Calipari and Kentucky assistant John Robic, Boyle got a few tips on how to handle a young roster. Colorado has only one senior: wing guard Sabatino Chen.

“It’s not, ‘Let’s dust off the practice plans and do what we did last year,’ ” Boyle said. “This is a different animal. The Kentucky guys told me that with freshmen, sometimes their attention span isn’t maybe as long as you’d like it to be. It’s better to do short bursts of teaching. Instead of a 45-minute film session, you have a 20-minute film session. Instead of having a three-hour practice, maybe you have a two-hour practice.”

Boyle’s first Colorado team three seasons ago featured future NBA players Alec Burks and Cory Higgins, and at times was a spectacular team in the open court.

As for the current youthful squad, its ability to get out in transition and finish fastbreaks exceeded Boyle’s expectations during recent closed scrimmages at SMU and at home against Northern Colorado. But Boyle would like to see better defense, especially from the freshmen.

Boyle’s defensive philosophy, whether it be man-to-man (his preference) or zone, is to limit easy shots. He abhors giving up layups.

“Coach Boyle says a max of eight layups allowed per game,” said junior forward Andre Roberson, the team’s top player. “We gave up a lot more than that in the scrimmages. If it’s more than eight, he gets grumpy.”

Focusing on the number of opponents’ layups is a philosophy Boyle said he took from George Karl after attending Nuggets practices.

“The Nuggets chart layups,” Boyle said. “I don’t think that’s a novel idea. But we keep track of how many layups we’re giving up. You want to get more easy shots than the opponents.”

Calipari and Robic reminded Boyle that handling freshmen differently does not mean they should be held to a lower standard than veteran players.

Boyle said he believes in the Kentucky philosophy of allowing all players, including freshmen, freedom to use their entire skill set.

This team will run more than last year’s squad, Boyle said.

“You can tell that Coach Boyle has recruited guys that fit his up-tempo system,” said Johnson, who is sure to be a crowd pleaser with his hops.

Also, the additions of the 6-10 Scott and 6-8 Wesley Gordon (Colorado Springs’ Sierra High School) give the Buffs a more physical and athletic post presence than they’ve had in years. That should allow Roberson more freedom to roam, when he isn’t crashing the boards, that is.

“I told our guys, ‘I know you’re going to make mistakes; I expect that,’ ” Boyle said. “But I also expect them to play as hard as they can play and learn every day. One thing I want to make clear is we’re not going to use youth as an excuse. We’ve got youth. Let’s roll with it.”

Colorado appears eager to ride the momentum from winning last year’s Pac-12 Tournament championship and becoming the first CU team to win a game in the NCAA Tournament since the Chauncey Billups-led 1997 squad.The freshmen comprise one of the highest-ranked recruiting classes in school history, if not the all-time best.

Yes, CU is turning into a basketball school.

“Selling out the opener, I think that’s fantastic,” Boyle said. “But I told our players, now it’s on us. When everybody leaves the building Friday night, they need to be saying to themselves and their neighbors and co-workers, ‘This team is fun to watch and we’re coming back.’ It’s our job to make sure that happens.”

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